Estate of the Onion

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Had pancreatic cancer not taken him down at the age of 42, my Dad would be 68 today.

Shag, Benny, Sebastian, Plato & Ben

Today I also learned Dave Meredith died yesterday of cancer.

I'm gonna miss Dave nearly as much as I miss Dad. Dave was one of the most awesome people I've ever met. He belongs in the Outdoors Hall of Fame.

Dave & Dad were both major believers in the Second Amendment. They both loved children. They both taught me many things I needed to know. They both liked beer and naps in the afternoon.

With that in mind, it makes the rest of this morning's commentary seem a little less important in one respect and more important in another.

I gotta agree with something my buddy Buck says about our current liar in chief.

You can say whatever you want to about him, but it in no way diminishes his accomplishments. Would that it DID diminish his accomplishments.

Thinking back, I know there are a couple of things the current president did which I like. The only one I can recall is a decision to send suitcase-sized internet hubs to trouble spots around the globe. That means even the rulers or the rebels shut down the internet, folks will still have access.

And cantservatives.

As I told Buck, for every positive accomplishment or promise kept he can list (and the president has some) for the current president, I can list at least one negative accomplishment or a broken promise for that same person.

Eh. I can do that for every president whom I can remember being in office.

But then I have a fundamental difference between most supporters of the current and most past presidents. I see government as the problem. They see it as the solution.

That being said, I must sort of come to the defense of the president in one regard. Yesterday my friend and US House member Austin Scott opined on Facebook  "Today marks 1000 days since the Senate has passed a budget! Do you think the President will address this in his SOTU tonight?"

Sort of defend the president. 

US Constitution Article 1 Section 7 "All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills."

In other words, the responsibility for a budget starts in the House (Reboobican controlled now). The Senate is Damnocrat controlled.

As the leader of the Damnocrats, the president is having a hard time getting his party to fall in line. That I like. For far too long our elected leaders in Washington have played follow the leader and toed a party line. We need independent thinkers in Washington, ones who will not do as instructed by higher ups in the various parties and caucuses.

If the president cannot control the members of his party, then this is a good thing. It means someone has started thinking independently.

I refuse to fault the current president because he can't get another elected official to do what he wants done.

I did not listen to the State of the Union speech. The only things the current president could say, which I want to hear, he will not say. He ain't got the guts to say it. What did I want him to say?

1) Our troops on foreign soil are coming home. Now. If they can't bring equipment and supplies back, they will blow it up. If anyone gets in the way, they will be blown up. Henceforth, if we are attacked, we will blow that country up, with nukes if necessary.

yadda yadda yadda

2) We will stop deficit spending now. This means some government services won't be supplied, some people are going to be laid off and there are no more grants.

3) It's time to Buy American. Quit buying imports and jobs will come back to the United States.

4) Things are tough. Quicherbichen and do something.

5) If you can't find a paying job, get off your butt and do some volunteering. Every community in this nation can use someone to pick up trash on the highway, volunteer in a library, read to children, visit inmates in prison, help in a homeless shelter. Volunteer. It could turn into a job. Even if it doesn't you'll learn some things.

6) It is not government's job to run your life. You run your life. We'll stay out of the way.

7) This is my last State of the Union speech. I will not run for office again and I am endorsing Rep. Ron Paul for president.